2/8/22
 
NEW ROCHELLE, NY – A 54-point second half outburst helped the Monroe College Mustangs turn their contest against Lackawanna College into a rout, 103-69, on Tuesday night at the Monroe Athletic Complex in New York.
 
Lackawanna College (5-14) put three players in double-figures, and, after trailing by 17 in the first half, were within striking distance late in the first half, down just single-digits, but the impressive Monroe Mustangs (21-5) re-upped the pace, grabbing a double-digit lead heading into the break, and then coming out and shooting 57% from the field in the second half, including hitting eight three-pointers, to run away from the Falcons. Lackawanna College shot 44% overall, but was just 4-for-23 from downtown, while committing 24 turnovers that led to 25 points for Monroe College. Jaylen Davis led the Falcons with 16 points and nine rebounds, while David Pope and Daryl Coleman added 12 points, each. Will Johnson and Magd Abdelwahab each had a team-high six assists for Lackawanna.
 
The first half started well for the Falcons, who snagged the opening points on a Jaylen Davis lay-up just 12 seconds into the game. Later, after some good ball movement, a David Pope three gave the Falcons the 7-4 advantage with 16:50 to play in the first half. Unfortunately, that only served to wake up the Mustangs, who went on a 20-0 run, holding the Falcons scoreless for over four minutes of game action. An Ahmir Ellzy jumper with 12 minutes to go stopped the bleeding, but it was now 24-9, Monroe in control.
 
The Ellzy bucket gave the Falcons a bit of a lift, as that kicked off a seven-minute span where the Falcons outscored the Mustangs 20-10, and was punctuated by a Gabe Springer baseline jam to make it 34-27, Monroe, with five minutes to play in the half. The Falcons were 9-for-16 over that stretch, getting points from six different players, while Monroe was just 4-for-14. The Mustangs would start to respond, and a Jaylen Davis lay-up made it 42-31, Monroe, with 3:31 to play in the half. But Monroe would hold the Falcons scoreless for nearly two-and-a-half minutes, rebuilding their lead to an 18-point gap. Davis would score the last four points of the half to make it 49-35 at the break, but the Mustangs were apparently just getting started.
 
The second half started with an Isac Ahrnstrand three-pointer for Monroe, the first of eight to fall in the second half, which was the beginning of a 16-7 run from the Mustangs to stretch the lead past the 20-point mark. The Falcons did their best to try to keep pace, but every Falcon bucket seemed to be answered by two or three Mustang scores on the other end.
 
Lackawanna College had one last flurry in them, with a quick 9-0 run in the middle portion of the half. It started with an Ellzy jumper, assisted by Daryl Coleman, who scored the next seven in a row for the Falcons. It was capped by a three-ball from Coleman, making it 65-51, Monroe still in front, with 11:42 to go. The Mustangs would respond with a 21-6 run over the next 5:40 of game time to put this one well out of reach, giving Monroe its 17^th win in its last 19 games, and sending Lackawanna to its tenth loss in its last eleven games.
 
The Falcons will look to get off the slide on Thursday, February 10^th, when they host Delaware Tech CC in a key Region XIX match-up at the Lackawanna Student Union.  That game is slated for a 5:00pm ET start, and will be the first game of a doubleheader, with the women's teams to follow at 7:00pm ET. The Falcons will be looking for a measure of revenge, having dropped their first match-up with the Terry Hawks earlier this year down in Delaware.